Only when I was standing on my own power did he step backand tuck himself away.
He didn’t look at me.
“I know what you do,” I shared.
His head snapped up and his gaze pierced mine.
“And I don’t like it,” I said.“But I understand why you doit.And we’ll be waiting for when you’re done doing that too.”
He said nothing, just stood there looking into my eyes.
I said nothing more either, just stood there, drinking inthe man I adored.
Then he made a move to go.
When he had his hand on the doorknob, I called out, “I loveyou.”
He turned to me then and said, “You’re beautiful.You’recrazy.You’re too damned loyal.And you’re a huge pain in my ass.”
I smiled at him.
He shook his head.
And then he was gone.
It wasn’t long after the incident against the wall in mybedroom when I found myself in the underground parking of an office building on15th Street in LoDo.
I knew he showed because the cameras I saw everywhere caughtme leaning against the door of my car and someone at Nightingale Investigationsheadquarters told him I was there.
Nightingale Investigations being Lee Nightingale’s privatedetective agency.
Where Darius now worked.
This was not something Darius told me.
Oh no.
It was something Tony shared with me, seeing as he wassurprised Darius had turned his back on the life that had kept him away from meand our son, and we were not together.
One could say, when I learned this, I was surprised too.
But that was only a very small part of what learning thisknowledge made me feel.
Hence, why I was standing right there.
But I didn’t move when he showed.
I didn’t because I was drowning in sorrow, indisappointment.So much, I didn’t even have it in me to feel rage.
He stopped in front of me.
“Malia,” he greeted.
“You’re out,” I stated flatly.
“Malia—”
“You got out, you’ve been out for a while, and you didn’tcome to us.”
